Normally, today would be a day of work for me for me. However, its a National holiday here in the States – celebrating the life of Martin Luther King Jr. Thus, the college is closed for the day – and I am home drinking Hazelnut-flavored coffee, and writing this blog post.

It was a little difficult to come up with a potential subject for this post. I have written a handful of posts over the years that I always felt were insightful, but most of my writing is like I am doing right now – aimed more at being conversational. Not in the sense that people will talk about, but more along the route of being like a conversation (one-sided at times) between myself and whoever decides to read this. But coming up with a subject, I did manage, as noted by yesterday’s post of my latest poem.

I have mentioned this before in another blog post, which I am too lazy to go back and attach to this post. The Gods are real. I believe in Them not because I want Them to be real. I believe in Them because They are real – and have manifested Themselves in my life in many ways. Long time readers of the blog – there are so few of you, you may be an endangered species – know of my long affiliation with both Crow and Coyote, as well as my fleeting attempts to work with Lugh. Being that OBOD is very Celtic oriented, I thought I would try my hand with working with Celtic deities. It certainly did not take, as the woods were as silent as ever when I walked. Until just before I left for the United Kingdom this past December.

With a little cajoling, and a lot of teasing, Fliodhas has entered into the mix now. And this “new” Goddess is forcing me to check into my own ancestry background. At this point, I am innately curious as to why an Irish Goddess of the woods and animals attaches me to Herself. Me. A guy who counts nearly half of my own ancestry to Germanic ties. Its certainly an odd thing for me. Regardless, I know She is real. I am now working on getting out into the woods nearby. And I am continuing to build a feeding station in the backyard for birds and small animals that live in my rural town.

Now, I have heard a lot of ridicule and criticism, both from family and friends, who believe me to be mental. I completely grok that perspective. If I were skeptical, I would too. But I am not. All I can offer as a counter-weight to that is that if they had had my experiences, they would believe too. After all, I do not discount their belief in God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit and how that Trinity works within their lives… I am a firm believer that the Christian Trinity works within the lives of those followers as well. But I do question their belief, when they take the words of a book that was written many ages ago, re-translated into several different languages, subjected to the political undertones of the times, and the fanatical ambitions of a power-hungry few – and then claim it to be applied to all, regardless of their own faith…. Then I have issues with their beliefs. Particularly when it flies in the face of many of the teachings within their own Path.

But, I am not here to rebut the Christian faith, or any other faith for that matter. Merely pointing out that sometimes the message gets twisted when added to the mix of politics and power. Honestly, it happens in the Pagan realm as well. All I can do, is to stride forward in my daily life, practice the framework of faith and reverence that I have chosen, and commune with both my environment and the Gods and Goddess that come before me. Unlike many of those following the Christian Path, I have no desire to bring people to a Pagan Path. Personally, I would rather they come to it on their own, in their own Free Will.

Regardless, I know the Gods are real. I feel Their touch when They lay Their hands on my shoulder. I hear Their voices in the land around me. And I have no desire to force that onto anyone else. If the Gods wish to speak to those individuals, They certainly will.